PupCam

Afternoon! What a storm in the night! Well, if there was one I didn't hear it 🤣 Nippy and dull though this morning. Amazon delivered the miniature ePaper display yesterday along with a box of 10 rotary encoders including push button function and black anodised aluminium knobs. The box of 10 cost £9.99 which, even when I went to school, means they were a pound apiece. How do they do that? In a similar vein, I've just nipped to Screwfix (on the RD, it would have been rude not to) and bought a pair of replacement 1/4 turn 1/2" BSP ceramic tap glands for the bathroom sink for the princely sum of £5.06. They are of course machined from solid brass, they have rubber O rings fitted and include plastic mouldings and the ceramic inserts. How does that work! Still, never mind I can live with not knowing, Back to the ePaper display. I spent a few hours last night and most of the morning trying to get it to work. Downloading the simple "prove it works" code from the manufacturer's website didn't work. Without the display attached the code ran through to completion (which is a bit strange because at one point it checks information returned from the display in order to proceed!) but connect the display and it didn't get past "Go" (or a call to the init function for those in the know). Anyway after much perusing of internet forums, downloading some 3rd party libraries which included their own, much more comprehensive, example apps, trawling through lists of 80+ different drivers in header files trying to work out which was the right one and swapping two of the handshake lines over from the configuration shown in the manufacturer's notes we got there! Softies will recognise the significance of those two little words with or without an exclamation mark ...... Now to work out what I actually want to display on it! Oh yes, <RANT MODE> = ON On my return I witnessed two more examples of idiots pulling out of side turnings into the path of oncoming traffic. #1 I was waiting to pull out of a side road and turn right onto the busy, single carriageway A6*. 75 yards or so further up to my left a car was waiting to do the same manoeuvre in order to leave a car wash. A minimal gap opened up in the stream so they decided to plug it. The person (with right of way , travelling at normal road speed) very nearly re-arranged the idiots back end but fortunately managed to slow down enough to make contact. #2 On the last stretch of open road in the countryside before home on the left there's a "business park" (it was a farm but where's the money in that). As I approached the access road I saw a stationary car waiting to pull out. Alan complete with a full day-glow yellow tabbard over my jacket, a bright yellow full face crash helmet and a bright orange Yamaha approached with, as a precaution right hand on front brake lever, right foot on rear brake lever, left hand on clutch and left thumb on the horn button. Turned out the precautions were entirely justified as the idiot then pulled out. If I'd have been travelling at the speed limit or even unprepared I'd be dead or at least severely re-arranged. You see it time and time again! What is it with this twits ** <RANT MODE> = OFF * It's probably known as the A1086 or something now but it will forever be the A6 for me. ** Other suitable words beginning with 'T' are available, refer to @polybear for more details TTFN

Afternoon! Unspecified pottering turned into trimming the Hedgehog* bush for the first time this year. Just as I'd started my mate reminded me of a gathering of VMCC MOGs from our (Bedfordshire) group going over to Old Warden to meet up with a bunch of MOGs from the Cambridgeshire group of the VMCC who were there to have lunch. TCs! Would have been a good chance to see some different machines. Oh well, never mind. Maybe as a consolation I could nip down to It came over very dark earlier and deposited a few drops of the wet stuff. I wonder if I feel lucky? Ebayer #2 delivered the goods this afternoon. I think I'll file the contents in the "Probably won't be very useful in the future box". Just waiting for Amazon to deliver some gloss photo paper so that I can print some photographs for Mrs Puppers and a small "Paper White" display (like those used on Kindles) that will be used on the Chronometric calibrator. Both are due to be delivered today. Just for fun I clicked on the two Amazon tracking links. In both cases it displayed a "Page not found" error 🤣 TTFN * So named because it evolved to look like a hedgehog not necessarily because hedgehogs live there

Morning! Yes indeed. I believe I'm correct in saying that at one of the displays this year there will be 4 in the air simultaneously; 2 in the Blenheim, 1 in the Lysander and the 1 in the Gladiator (photo). Should be good! They have a very mellow sound to them I think. #1 Be very afraid ... 😛 #2 @polybear #3 Because he doesn't do 7mm! So now the definition is published and you know. Next ....... ION I've just de-coked the coffee machine and now I suspect a day of unspecified pottering will ensue. Have a good one! TTFN

Evening! But Chimpy, you are a special character! 😀 No, no, no. The official (but unpublished) definition of the Deltic unit of currency specifically refers to the cost of a standard, non-DCC fitted, Accurascale OO Gauge Deltic and thus the generally accepted conversion rate between Sterling and the Deltic is £170 = 1 Deltic. * Occasionally the Deltic unit of currency can be prefixed with "Noisy" which is the same model fitted with a DCC sound decoder and is thus of higher value. Think of it as the Deltic equivalent of Sterling's Guinea only more expensive. * I have just checked the Accurascale website and the currency is extremely stable and the exchange rate remains constant. Rather annoyingly I notice they are going to re-run Deltics to celebrate the company's birthday which means I'm going to have to go to the trouble of resisting purchasing one all over again! That's going to be very, very difficult. And to think I celebrate another orbit of the sun in the not too distant future too. TCs I think! I immediately thought of the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight but couldn't understand the inclusion of the "&". All became clear with your later clarification. Both causes, with or without an "&" are of of course both valid and worthy of further funding injection. ION I've been waiting for two EBay purchases to turn up now for over a week. Both were rubber drive bands for potential use in the Chronometric speedo calibrator. I received an Email from seller#1 to say that the order had been dispatched with an ETA of yesterday. I then received a number of Emails from two different, strangely named, organisations I've never heard of saying they'd received my parcel and it was in transit and somewhere along the line a tracking number. Having been out for a good bit of yesterday it was of course the Law of S0D that dictated that an attempt would be made to deliver said parcel while we were out. And so it came to pass. After my return I received yet another Email this time from Herpies 😉 (or whatever it is called these days) to say how sorry they were to have missed me and they would attempt to re-deliver the parcel the following day. I followed the tracking info and it revealed two things; a small map with X marks the spot showing the location of my house and a photograph of my house albeit at a very jaunty angle and almost completely inverted to, presumably, prove that delivery had been attempted. Cynical old Puppers did wonder for a few seconds whether they'd only actually visited virtually but to go to such trouble seems a mite pointless. Today, we planned to go out as it was one of our days to look after Junior Junior Puppers #2 so we thought a drive to and a nice stroll around the Swiss Gardens would help him nod off for his mid-morning snooze. Not wishing to tempt fate for a second time I added additional delivery info (i.e. If out please leave next door) AND added the same info to an A5 sheet of paper with a font** size ~ 30 and stuck it in very plain sight on the front door. ** For those interested in fonts (there must be one), the font used was "Alan's finest GP's hand script" which as everyone will appreciate is a constantly changing fontparticularly after a couple of G&Ts 🤪 Needless to say, on our return, the "Second Coming" had indeed occurred. The parcel was probably 4" x 3" x 0.5". The operative pushed it through the letter box ....... 🤣 The second Ebay seller hasn't even sent a message to say my order has been dispatched! I think I need to make use of one of @polybear 's single descriptive words. The one beginning with a T should suffice. Just as an Endnote on this story: A day or two after those orders were placed I placed a third order with another supplier for some plastic grommet strip. That arrived on Saturday and was fitted to the front panel of the calibrator within 15 minutes of its arrival. Fortunately I found in one of my "These bits will come in useful one day" boxes a single rubber, cassette or VCR drive band which fits the bill perfectly, is installed and working so I actually have no use other than to replenish the really useful bits box for the first two orders .... Sometime ago I became aware of a book by a chap called Tim Hillier-Graves entitled "Gresley and his L*c*m*t#v@s L & NER Design History. It might have been mentioned on Tony W's thread I can't remember. Anyway I ordered a copy, it wasn't particularly cheap at ~0.25 Deltics, it arrived, I put it in the bookcase for when I got a roundtuit. And today I did. I've had a cursory glance through it but not read any of it yet. I do hope the text is good because IMVHO the reproduction of most of the photographs is truly appalling. Many are very flat, many are very dark and many are "sepia" toned which I presume was done for "artistic effect" as I think I recall that at least some of those I have seen reproduced in normal black and white in excellent publications such as "LNER Reflections" all those years ago. As I say, the text had better make up for it otherwise this will be one well and truly miffed Puppers and no one would like one of those! And to finish on a high. A few photos of our very pleasant visit to Shuttleworth this morning. I spent quite a lot of time admiring the two Cambridge Flying Group Tiger Moths which were being preped for and then flown. Puppers came to the conclusion that perhaps some of his disposable income should be disposed of ...... A 30 minute flight costs ~0.75 Noisy Deltics. They can actually take you right through to your PPL (surely learning in a Tiger has got to be the best way to get there!) but that I fear would cost many, many, many Noisy Deltics so maybe not. There was some interesting activity in the engineering hangar with investigation work going on on the Bristol Monoplane's le Rhone. As the front crankcase cover was off you could clearly see the master rod and the slaves - a feature of (all?) rotaries (proper ones not those new-fangled Wankel jobbies!) and radials. Right oh, it must be bed time! Night.

Evening! Mine wouldn't be any safer ..... 🤪 ION Notalot .... A quiet day yesterday doing notalot apart from a most enjoyable visit by Junior Puppers and Junior Junior Puppers after Saturday's post-Covid jab "feeling very strange day". A trip for lunch with friends to the outskirts of the place they call Milton Keynes was enjoyed earlier. Whilst stumbling around some of the Faceache groups that appeal yesterday I spotted these two rather splendid photos of an aeroplane guaranteed to quicken Puppers' pulse and, I suspect, that of a certain @Dave Hunt. Shared on here with permission of the photographer (Adrian Almond) it was very kind of him to thank me for asking! Well, it would have been extremely rude (and wrong) not to. For anyone who is interested they were posted on the Mach Loop, Lake District & Low Level Photography Group. Anyway, cracking aeroplane and it's a shame and a tragedy that true civil operation of the type is now suspended since somebody tried doing a Jet Provest sized loop in one from low level (if I understood the basic gist of the pilot's defence correctly). Hindsight would suggest that was never going to work. Anyway, two great and rather unusual images of one of the HHA Hunters doing what they do best. TTFN

Afternoon. I think that puts you right at the very top of the list ..... Funny old day to day. My head has been hurting (more than usual), I'm feeling a bit "spaced-out", a few funny twinges here and there and feeling apathetic (most usual). The after effects of yesterday's Covid jab perhaps? So notalot happening here today - PAH! I have been fiddling around a bit with the new Chronometric testing machine and making slow but steady progress. The belt drive from the brushless motor has been fine tuned (as in the effective gear ratio) and it will now drive the Chrono to FSD (120mph on this occasion). I'm just working on the IR rotation counter at the moment. This will give out one pulse per revolution and allow me (knowing the number of turns the speedo cable does per mile) to check the calibration of the attached speedo either by inspecting the pulses on a scope or, if I can work up the enthusiasm, via some Arduino code and a little display directly on the gadget. I think it must be time for a very late lunch and some slumping in front of the TV now. TTFN

Morning All! I've been jabbed, all seems well at the moment. The nurse queried me and said "I looked a bit young for it". I then explained some of the medication I'm on and my medical history and she said "Yes, that'll do it!". I'm off for a run over to Woburn on the RD in a short while. The sun is out, the sky is blue and there's a coffee with my name on it that will be waiting to be drunk. On my return I'll be firing up the Myford again. I've got a friends Smiths Chronometric Speedo to test and whilst I already had a gadget for running them up that I made some years ago it's a bit Heath Robinson so I thought I'd make a better job of it. I've been turning up the drive shaft and flywheel, the next things to make are the bearing housing and a mounting plate for a little (model aircraft) brushless motor that does the work of the speedo cable. I might go the whole hog and build a little Arduino controller for it or I might rely on an old servo tester and use my oscilloscope to determine true speed. We'll see! Right, I'm off now. TTFN

Evening All! Bob's back! Jolly good 😀 As in "where to keep the frame" 🤔😉 Not as long as the smoked code that we had for dinner on Sunday .... Not another improvement for us customers. Their generosity knows no bounds. ION Well I was up and out relatively early (8:45 ish) this morning as I had to disappear up the M1 to the frozen North (well, Hinckley actually). A friend had invited me to join him on a Triumph Motorcycle factory tour. It would have been rude to refuse! And what an excellent day it was too. I won't pollute ERs with a whole load of old motorcycle photos (I'll do that later on the appropriate thread) but I thought this machine was so way-out and has an appropriate name for a model railway forum (that is technically banned from this thread) that I'd chuck these in as they may be of interest to a wider audience. All I can say is Guy Martin must have very, very large spheroids ........ Other than that not a lot to report. TTFN

That's interesting. No mention of that that I have seen. I didn't even have to go through a "prove you need one" on the website when I booked it, I entered my NHS number & DoB and it took me straight to the appointments. Perhaps I'd better take my medication with me just in case? 🤔

Morning! Damp and wet out there so a bit of mo'sickle fettling in the garage I fancy this morning 😀 Back later! TTFN

Seen at Jordans Mill and Shuttleworth recently .... The chrome on that beautiful Honda 550 had to be seen to be believed - it looked like the wheels were solid chrome. Whether it was original or a restoration job I don't know but no matter, it was rather fabulous. I understand @polybear finds the Vincent to be a particularly attractive motorcycle! 🤣 Our departure from Shuttleworth was recorded yesterday. What an assortment they make or may be a "Motley bunch" might be a better description. It will be interesting to see how long the Black Prince lasts in my mate's ownership. I give it 3 or 4 weeks. The Norton of course isn't quite pure Norton with that great big Yamaha V twin lump shoehorned in. Mind you, it has been done very nicely indeed. Alan

Thanks Tony, yes, so was mine it turns out. Jab booked for Friday morning. When I visited the Google offices at Kings Cross c/o Junior Puppers a few years back i saw the famous Routmaster Bus converted into a "breakout area". I think it was on the 3rd floor IIRC. The tropical beach breakout area was amusing too. Still, a full English breakfast, sat on the roof terrace of the building enjoying the fine view (including down into the Kings Cross train shed & station throat albeit with not a lot of interest therein these days) was most enjoyable. Sadly, such opportunities have disappeared so I'll have to make do with Jordans Mill et al for breakfasts in the future. (No, that isn't Junior Puppers before anyone asks) Anyway, no doubt @polybear will recall enjoying the similarly luxurious working environment we experienced at the GE 😆 ION I actually managed to get the telescope out last night and made a reasonable job of getting it polar aligned. As we are pretty much out of planets at the moment I thought I'd have a go at some star/deep sky stuff using the astro camera. Never had much success previously and guess what? I didn't have any success last night either! I think my low cost astro camera suffers from a lack of sensitivity. It also suffers form a lack of operator experience and "having a clue" but never mind. By ~11:00pm the moon had popped up from behind the house so at least I had fall back target that was hard to miss. I managed to get some reasonable videos and a quick process of one this morning shows some potential however I did struggle once again with slop in the mount, the clock drive jumping out of engagement etc etc so perhaps a good thing to do this afternoon would be to give the mount a good coat of "looking at" and come up with a plan for bearing and locking improvements for the various axes. The bracket that holds the worm shaft certainly needs seem decent bearings if I'm to get shot of the the jumping out of engagement problem once and for all. Or should I just blow £5-10K or so and buy a proper job (plus another £8-10K for the telescope to go with it)*? The real problem is though that this astronomy lark does require you to be up, about and active late at night. I didn't get to bed till gone 1:00 this morning and whilst I used to do that regularly years ago my body has very strict views on such behaviour these days and pays me back handsomely the next day. Consequently today could not be said to be a particularly active or productive day 🤣 * You know me that is, of course, a rhetorical question! TTFN

Morning! You can have too much of a good joke ..... 🤣 ION Manx Norton kit dispatched. As I said to the nice lady in the post office; it was very good of her to wrap it and return from whence it came and ironic that if they'd have wrapped it themselves, she'd have been out of something to do. Searching for the communication from the NHS telling me to go and book a Covid booster. I'm blowed if I can remember what form it was in, I thought it was a text but no sign. Perhaps I dreamt it? TTFN

Don't know. Same scale so maybe? Many years ago when I was on my RD125 (that puts in the late 70s!) two deer were standing on the bank a long a country road. The RD music scared them and they jumped down and ran across the road. The first passed in front, the second passed behind. I think I dodged a bullet there or, perhaps more accurately, a pair of deer. And in Puppers garden. We put it down to abuse by Mrs Puppers and/or the weather. ION Seems like our departure from OLd Warden this morning was recorded for posterity 🤣 NXOQ7795.MP4 Ssssh, don't mention this to anyone. The sky is clear, the wind has dropped and there's almost a full moon. I might get the scope out. I wonder if I can remember what to do? TTFN

The beers are on Phil then! 🍺 What time should we call round? ION Update I've staggered my round the Amazon (Not much) Help pages and thought blow it, they can just have it back and I'll do without. If I send it back and re-order no doubt it will be a repeat match. Another "amusing" (I use the term in a sarcastic manner) one of the return options was words to the effect of "The product was damaged but the packing was intact". Nowhere was there a "We forgot to put it any packaging" option. At one point I got to a page that provided a "Call me" option. I thought Hurrah! I can speak to a human. Silly old me ....... no, it was an opportunity to talk to a stupid computer albeit no doubt equipped allegedly with artificial intelligence. Anyway, I've gone for the give the item as-is to the local post office, show them the QR code and wait for the refund option. Apparently, the Post Office will wrap it (well, there's a first) and return it all for nothing. Looks like if I want a model of a Manx Norton I'll have to scratch build it. Now where did I put that brass tube? TTFNQ

Afternoon! A quick chug over to Shuttleworth this morning. There was some form of classic car meeting being held there today so we thought it might be worth a look. The expectation was probably slightly better than the experience although no matter; we'd had a ride, had a (surprisingly good) breakfast in the cafe, had a gawp at the classic cars and a wander around the many and various bikes that were present. A friends new acquisition, a Vincent Black Prince was probably the rarest and most valuable there. Mind you, the price of such things is rapidly heading in a downward direction as those that typically lust after such beasts shuffle off this mortal coil (and you can't take them with you). Their use as a solid gold investment opportunity is drawing to a close I suspect. I think the Beeza won the oldest motorcycle accolade today by a country mile. It was the only pre-war bike I saw. Rather amazingly on my return the engine was mostly free of external oil contamination. I'd had another go yesterday at providing a better seal for the blanking plug in the rocker box for the non-existent decompessor. Maybe I was, at last, successful? Talking of pre-war, one of the Cambridge Flying Group's lovely Tiger Moths was basking in the sunshine overcast, cold and windy dullness - lovely. Must wangle another go in a Tiggy soon! ION I saw the Italeri kit for a Manx Norton the other day whilst in Hobby Craft. I've seen them many times and I was severely tempted but it was ~£57 IIRC and I managed to resist. When I got home I thought I'll just have a look on the Big River where the same kit was being offered for £44 and I was unable to resist "Adding to Basket". It turned up yesterday .......... This is "Handed to resident". I think @polybear has a descriptive term that he uses to describe such situations. I believe it starts with a "T" and ends with an "s" and is applicable here. This is the suitable protective packaging in which it came .... You might notice the damage to the box at both ends and the nice way the box artwork has been defaced by the application of the delivery labels. I think @polybear has a descriptive term that he uses to describe such situations. I believe it starts with a "T" and ends with an "s" and is applicable here. Fortunately the contents appear to be undamaged and all present. More by luck than judgement! I'd send a snottogram but I haven't spotted a suitable Email address. The customer complaint / feedback in "My Account" does not appear to have a suitably relevant grump along the lines of "Put the goods in some protective packaging that's up to the job!" but I'll have another look if ICBA. I might have to tap the Bear up for that Email address. It can't do anything but help for the Managing Director to receive hundreds of Emails from disgruntled customers to keep him busy up to the morning coffee. TTFN

Evening The mill is a Senior (Built in deepest Yorkshire), don't know about the lathes one of which has been CNC'd. Amazing what you can do with some stepper motors and some G Code. Which is why modern society really gets my goat! The total reliance on something that either isn't there all of the time or is completely inaccessible to a significant chunk of society (mostly but not exclusively the most senior members of our society). There used to be a really useful online calculator for calculating your property re-building costs (in the UK) but unfortunately it seems to have disappeared. It was most useful at insurance renewal times. Maybe it's been taken down so that we (the great unwashed in the world of building) haven't got a clue, state a ridiculous amount (high or low) in our applications and then, should we need to claim, have any claims rejected as totally unrealistic re-building costs were quoted. No, surely not! Puppers aka "an old cynic" In the usual context that's actually reverse-ageist and sounds like you've been indulging in positive discrimination! I never did agree with positive discrimination in any field; people (and dogs as appropriate) should be selected on their merits for the role whatever that maybe and not because they help "even-up a distribution" or put a tick in a particular box. As an example, as a short-a**e, I would have had no problem with being rejected should I have applied to join the police force as a constable all those years ago. I can appreciate that I would have been (still am) deficient in both the altitude and (at any likely time of application) the mass departments and you could probably add to that list, bravery. For me some key characteristics for a police officer include being tall and built like a brick outhouse (a bit like one of my neighbours who just happens to be a policeman who is built like a brick outhouse). Why? Because size and mass provide an automatic air of authority and, if push came to literal shove, a most useful physical attribute of enhanced inertia in a tussle that someone my size simply does not have. I'm reminded of this more amusing and light-hearted example. Positive discrimination appears to be part of the, if I maybe so bold and IMVHO, rather pathetic "Everyone can do anything they want and every one is a winner" culture that seems to prevail these days. Well, life isn't like that and despite as much valid smoothing of whichever playing field it happens to be it will never be truly level and no, everyone is not and cannot be a winner. Discrimination of any form based on characteristics that are irrelevant to the role (we all know what they are so no point in enumerating them here) are of course completely unjust and unacceptable. Deselection because someone does not possess some essential characteristic or experience for the role is perfectly valid and is not discrimination. Similarly, selection just because someone has a specific characteristic or experience that is irrelevant to the role over someone who has the relevant characteristics and experience is just plain wrong again IMVHO. Making things as accessible as possible to as many as possible is entirely laudable and I was reminded of an interesting example of something going full-circle over a period of many years the other day. The example in "Secrets of the London Underground" was the efforts by London Underground (or is it TFL?) to increase accessibility to stations by the removal of escalators and their replacement by lifts, some of which will go in the lift shafts of the old lifts taken out of service 70 or 80 years ago when the new fangled fancy escalators were introduced! Although in some cases that I can think of, not only are different teams used but different technologies are used too which usually forces different approaches so although the designers may have come out of the same general mould the mistakes they potentially make in each case are likely to be very different by virtue of the technology used. I'd rather have two different systems design teams designing a duplex safety critical system than one by a systems design team and one by a bunch of florists. I do like a nice Wisteria. I was going to comment on the strange giant snake running through your garden but others have beaten me to it so I won't! 🤔🤣 ION A nice thrash over to Woburn this morning on the RD but boy was it busy over there! Probably 80 - 90 bikes at the peak and about 20 cars many of them classics. The only trouble is the cafe is very small and as it says on the window "We don't do fast food just high quality* food ....". Another problem is there is only one unisex loo and a lot of, shall we say, older males. Billy Connelly has got a very good rule about men over 50 to which I subscribe (often). * It's all relative and may not pass the iD test! On my return there was some ladder stowage operations to be perform following the completion of the recent aerial activities around the roof and gutter. This was followed by a little routine maintenance on the Beeza in readiness for another run out tomorrow which may well feature a change of two wheeled horse. That's it. Night all!

Evening! Puppers went to see the widow of my good mate (and ex-work colleague) and to collect the foam cutter this morning. Try as I might, the two inverted U shaped main frames would not fit in Monty even after removing all of the mechanism parts. I had hoped to keep them intact for the time being (even though it is unlikely that it will be used as a foam cutter again) but it was not to be and they had to be cut-up to get them in the car. It was a strange, uneasy feeling fiddling about in his garage, using his tools to dismantle something that we'd discussed and worked on many* years ago. More than once I asked him where I'd find a screwdriver or Allen Key! At some point there's a vertical mill and two lathes to dispose of and that's going to be interesting. I do hope that his widow doesn't end up calling in the "We'll get rid of them for free Madam" merchants and that we can find recipients who want and will appreciate them and also won't mind giving at least a token amount in return. Those recipients will of course have to be "strong old boys" though because they'll have to remove them from their lair! * Hard for me to believe it's very nearly 20 years since we built our first foam cutter On my return this afternoon the stack of bits that is the scaffold tower was moved to a more appropriate position. Its owner is away walking for a couple of weeks so I've got to hang on to it for a bit. We don't want to be tripping over it every 5 minutes🤣 Now, I wonder what the weather is going to be like in the morning? There's talk of a run over to Woburn to Pure Triumph tomorrow which reminds me, a friend has two tickets for a trip around the Triumph factory. Looks like I'll be driving up the M1 next week! 😀 TTFN

Afternoon! Bluebells were spotted in Hitch Wood and very nice they were too. On the way back we detoured via St Evenage as shopping had to be shopped; "a few bits" aka ~£100 from Sainsbugs and some wool from Hobby Craft. Like many things it appears wool is becoming a difficult item to source. All of the traditional local retailers, whether independents or chains, seem to have disappeared in a puff of smoke. This is not good when Mrs Puppers has just been commissioned by Junior Junior Puppers to knit yet more toy snakes! Still, we found some in the end but how much! This afternoon I have been engaged in the death defying feat of dismantling the scaffold tower with the assistance of Mrs Puppers and a neighbour (who reported that this mornings VMCC ride was extremely pleasant - that's right, rub it in 🤣). Anyway, I'm very pleased to say that the entire activity is now complete without any physical damage to my body including that that would be created by the sudden stop at the end of a long drop! I'm getting way too old to be scrabbling around at the top of a braced but still wobbly scaffold tower. On disassembly I tried one of the frames for size in the back of Monty. It looks like I'll be able to return it to it's owner without troubling him to come over with his trailer. Good old Monty who, incidently, clocked up 198,000 miles on the way home this morning. Whilst engaged in this activity I noticed a glider thermal soaring nearby. It's only a phone shot and it was a way away so it is included for interest rather than photographic merit. The other day we were visited by a couple of Wildcat helicopters that clearly used the local church (stuck on a hill) as a turning point. Reminds me of the days years ago when we used to get A10 Warthogs doing the same thing at about 800' Fortunately we never heard the very distinctive sound of the "Gatling Gun"* * Actually the GAU-8/A Avenger auto-cannon This evening it's downt'pub with the ex GE Biker mates. I wonder if the world will have been to rights in the morning? Probably not ..... TTFN

Morning! Me neither. I think we can detect a theme here ..... ION Had very few interviews during my career. One to get my first position. One 10 years later for a position with the then opposition. I passed but declined the "kind" offer. History shows another bullet dodged as I probably would have ended up where I ended up anyway but on different terms. Looks like I failed my last informal interview. It's a beautiful day! I had an invitation to go on the first local VMCC "Summer Saunter". I think they are heading out over Saffron Walden way. No doubt it will be a nice run but I declined the offer as I'm out with another group (ex GE bikers) this evening and this morning Mrs Puppers and I are out to visit the Bluebells. TTFN

Evening! Which reminds me, I have to go and collect a foam cutter gifted to me that was built by a late, good friend and colleague in the next couple of days. We first built a fairly substantial foam cutter together for a project about 20 years ago. Essentially 2 giant XY plotters with a hot wire stretched between them it would cut objects up to just over 2m long by 1m by 1m - it was a bit of a beast! It used some really cheap (and extremely poor) commercial software to convert the 2D template drawings into sequential cut paths. We had no knowledge of G Code at the time and persevered with "FlakeySoft" once I'd identified workarounds to its software "features". It did the job rather well in the end even if we did have to invent some devious cut-paths to produce the required, rather complex 3D objects. When my friend retired sometime later he used his collection money to buy the necessary components (bearings, leadscrews, stepper motors, drivers etc etc) to build a better albeit more modestly sized one for home use rather than the standard clock. Why did people always get clocks or watches when they retired? 🤔 Anyway, unfortunately he succumbed to the big C last year and his wife has asked me if I'd like it. Even though I'm now unlikely to make use of it as a foam cutter (for model aircraft wing cores most likely) the components may well have a number of other potential uses particularly for the astronomy department so, yes I would. Great photos Rick! Although I don't ever recall going to St Ives I feel I know the place fairly well now as I pay a virtual visit using a roving webcam sometimes when taking my blood pressure (it's a nice scene that distracts the mind). The second photograph has answered a question I had. I've often wondered if the arches in the quay were blind. Apparently not! Anyway, we really must pay it a proper not virtual visit sometime. ION I've been up and down the scaffold tower a few times this morning tidying up and fine tuning the work I've done up there. Just got to take it down now and return it to its owner. I'm definitely getting too old to be shinning up and down such things and me with a heart condition! This afternoon may have involved an extended eye lid inspection. Other than that. not a lot .... Night All

Yes .... 🤣 Whoops, I've just thought. When Puppers was a young Pup (circa 1970) his father had a model shop. We used to sell MiniTrix N Gauge stuff. The small radius curve part number was 4912, the larger radius curve was 4922 and short straights were 4916. The registration number of father's Triumph Herald in 1964 was GMG***B ...... On second thoughts, no Bear that's not sad at all it just show's you have* a very good memory. * In my case it shows I had a very good memory albeit it's shot to pieces now! 🤣

And in some cases all of those things simultaneously! You can't beat multi-tasking.

No the bloke on the HD took some of the weight of the Duke as he was actually sitting on it about to leave. Richard's mate rushed to his aid to lift the bike off of the HD. I presume the HD was not actually damaged as there appeared to be no swapping of particulars and he drove off. His body language clearly suggested that he was less than chuffed!

Perhaps different rather than necessarily better? Once is more than enough and worthy of applause as mentioned 😀